Toothbrush



E. K. GADE TOOTHBRUSH July 2, 1929.

Filed Sept. 3, 1927 w27 ws ATTORNEY Patented July 2, 1929A.

UNITED STATES EINAR K GADE, oF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOOTHBRUSH.

Applicationfiled September 3, 1927. Serial No. 217,356,

The invention relates to an improvement in brushes, and moreparticularly to an improve- Inent in toothbrushes of the type in whichthe bristlesare detachably secured to the handle so that they may heremoved for cleansing or for replacement by new' bristles. One object ofthe invention is to produce a toothbrush of this type in which thebristle carrying head will be rigidly secured in the handle by 1mprovedand simplified means, efficient and durable in operation and inexpensivetomanufacture. Another object of the invention is to arrange the partsof the means for securing the bristles to the handle in such manner thatthe brush will have substantially the appearance of one in which thebristles are permanently connected with the handle part of the brush,thereby improving upon the appearance and adding to the attractivenessof brushes of this type. To the accomplishment of these objects theinvention consists in the improved brush hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating 1; Fig. 3 is a top planthereof; Fig. 4 is anA enlargedsection taken alongthe lineA 1- 4 of Fig.1; Fig. 5 is a similar section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Fig.6 is a plan4 of the blank of sheet metal from which the tube for holdingthe movable rod is formed;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view, with the rear end broken away, of themovable rod holding tube; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the for-A Wardvend of the movable rod; and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the bristlecarrying head.Y

separated from the handle. y

The improved toothbrush as illustrated in..4 the drawings comprises thebristleslO inserted into abase portion or head 11 in the usual manner.The base portion or head for holding the bristles 10 may be composed ofany suitable material such as rubber, celluloid, orthe like. The sidewalls 12 of the head 11 rise at right angles from the back 13 of thehead and con-v` verge slightly from the rear end ,14; to vthe front end15 thereof. The rear endl/4 of the head is rounded or arc-shaped andrises per-V pendicularly from the back 13. Thefront end 15 of the head12 is rounded and the exi tremity thereof slants'inwardly toward the topsurface 16 of the head. The top Vwall, or

surface 16 and the bottom or rear wall 13 of the head 12 are preferablyparallel with each other. K

. The handle portion 17 of the brush is a hollow member curved inwardlyslightly at the point 18, as is the. fashionat present in toothbrushes,and the forward rend ofthe handleis provided with a recess adapted t0receive the head l2 snugly, the handle having means', as will bepresently described, vfor rigidly securing the head 12 withinthefrecess, The handle 17 may be composed 'of .metalsuch as gold orsilver, or may be formed from any other material suitable for 'thepurpose. The side walls 19 of the forward'end of thehanv dle constitutethe sides of therecess and `they converge Vfrom their rear end v20 tovthe forward extremity 21 of the ,handle conformable to the convergenceof the Side walls of the head 12. The front and rear ends-20 and 21 ofthe recess are rounded to conform toand receive snugly the rounded front,and rear ends of the head 12. Thes'ide.:wallsl 19 and rear end wall 20` of the recess formedin the'lhandle rise perpendicularly from the backwall 22 thereof to properly engage the side walls-and rear end of thehead 12. AThe forward extremity 21 of thefhandle'.isinelined-inwardly atthe same angle as the forward end 15 of the head 12 so that when thehead'isin the recess the end 21 of the handle `Will, overlap and.

thereby securely holdithe'forw'rd endpffthe Y head in place. l n.

The means for ldetachablyliolding. the head 12 in the'recess in ythetforward end ofthe handle comprises a block .23 carried-b the forwardend of a rod 24mou`nted wit in a tube 25 enclosed in the hollow handle17 and extending from the rear eirtremity 26 .thereof to the rear endofthe head receiving recess. On the forward end of the tube25'is formedan arc-shaped piece 2 7 which. constitutes lthe rear wall 2O .of ther'.e,cess. A The ltube y25`is struck up or s'waged in awell knownmannerfrom the blank shown in Fig. l(ifV lInasin'uch asthe handler 17sfbent: at the 'point"1 8j.nd 'the tube 25 substantially fills .theAinfteriol,rfof the contracted Pfroiof the handle 17 at the point 18 the,t'jubef25 isgalsobentjat -this point, as clearly'appears in `The reason:for thisis to cause the vinner ysurfaces of thewalls of the tube 25 vtofrictio'nally engagethe rod 24 andthereby prevent it from movinglongitudinally in either direction the han 17 when not purposely movedby theusfer of the brush in .detaching thebristle head l2 `and securinga new one to the handle. It will be seen by inspecting Fig. 5 that theinner surfaces of the walls of the tube 25 engage with the rod 24 atabout the points 29 and 30. This frictional engagement is great enoughto prevent the accidental movement of the rod 24 but is not sufficientto inconvenience the user in pulling the rod outwardly to disengage thebristle head or push it inwardly to secure the bristle head in therecess.

The block 23 is rectangular in cross-section and is provided on itsforward extremity with a wedged-shaped holding point- 31 adapted toenter and closely'fit a V-shaped notch 32 formed transversely in therear end 14 of the bristle head 12. The notch 32 lies parallel with therear or bottom surface 13 of the head, and the block 23 is held in thetube in such fashion that the flat tapering under surface of the wedgepoint 31 lies on the flat 'tapering bottom surface of the notch 32,thereby establishing a cam action between these parts which effectivelyforces the bottom or rear surface 13 of thehead against the bottomsurface of the head receiving recess in the handle. To prevent the rod24 from rotation the block 23 travels lonigtudinally in a rectangularpiece constituted by the fianges 33 Struck up from that portion of thetube blank between the piece 27 and the partI from which the tube properis formed, as indicated in Fig. 6. In the piece 27 is formed arectangular aperture 34 through which the block 23 passes. The rear endof the rod 24 projects beyond the rear end of the tube 25 and handle 17and is formed as a button or knob 35 by manipulating which the user maydraw the rod outwardly to disengage the block 23 from the notch 32 whenthe bristle head is to be removed and push the rod inwardly to force theblock 23 into the notch 32 of the new bristle head to hold it firmly inthe recess. The rear 'end of the block 23 is adapted to engage with theforward end 36 of the tube proper 25 and thereby limit the extent ofoutward movement of the rod.

It will be recognized that in the above described detachable bristlehead toothbrush the means for detachably securing the bristle head tothe handle are simple in construction and accordingly inexpensive tomanufacture and that the frictional engagement of the tube 25 with therod 24 furnishes an efficient means for holding the block 23 inengagement with the sides of the notch 32. The life of these parts issubstantially without limit, the wear of 24 and 25 due to the infrequentmoving of the rod 24being negligible, or substantially so. Theoverhanging end 21 of the handle against which the rod 24 forces theforward end of the head 12 acting in conjunction with the block 23 andnotch 32 holds the head 12 firmly in its recess. The head 12 will be ofsuch size as to fit snugly within the recess in the handle. And when thewhole brush is assembled as shown in Fig. 1 it has all the appearanceand attractiveness of a toothbrush in which the bristle part isinseparably connected with the handle part.

Having thus described the inventon what I claim as new is z- 1. A brushcomprising, a hollow handle having a bent portion and provided at itsforward end with a bristle head receiving recess, a bristle head adaptedto be received within and to fit snugly' the recess in the handle, saidhead having at its rear end a notch, a tube received within the hollowhandle and bending in conformity therewith, a rod slidingly receivedwithin the tube and frictionally engaged thereby, and a block carried onthe forward end of said rod adapted to enter the notch in the head tosecure the head in the recess, the frictional engagement of the tubewith the rod being sufficient to prevent the rod from accidentaldisplacement.

2. A brush comprising, a hollow handle having at its forward end abristle head receiving recess, a bristle head received within the recessand having on its rear end a notch, a tube received within the handle,the forward end of the tube carrying a piece constituting the rear endof the recess, said piece being provided with an aperture, a rod received within the tube and having on its forward end a block adapted topass through the aperture in the tube piece for engagement with thenotch in the bristle head to hold the latter in place, a portion of saidtube being offset to engage with and frictionally hold the rod againstaccidental displacement but permitting manual movement thereof.

3. A brush comprising, a hollow handle having at one end a bristle headrecess, a bristle head adapted to be received within the recess andhaving on its rear end a notch, a tube received within the recess, a rodslidingly received within the tube, a block of noncircular cross-sectionmounted on the forward end of the rod and adapted to enter the notch inthe bristle head to hold it in the recess in the handle, the tube beingprovided with a part arranged to engage the block to prevent it fromrotation, the tube being offset to engage with the rod and thereby toexert a frictional pressure upon the rod to prevent it from accidentaldisplacement but permitting manual manipulation thereof.

4. A brush comprising, a hollow handle having on its forward'end abristle head receiving recess, the sides of the recess risingperpendicularly from the bottom of the recess and converging toward thefront end of the handle, the front end of the recess being rounded andslanting inwardly from the bottom thereof, the rear end of the recessbeing rounded and rising perpendicularly from the bottom thereof, abristle carrying head of contour permitting it to be received in and fitsnugly the recess in the handle and having on its rear end a transverseV-shaped notch, a rod slidingly received within the handle, a blockcarried on the forward end of the rod and having a transverse wedge endadapted to fit and exert a cam action on the bottom surface of the notchin the head to hold the head in the recess, means for preventing the rodfrom rotating, said handle frictionally engaging the rod to prevent itfrom accidental displacement.

5. A brush comprising, a hollow handle having a bent portion, andprovided at its forward end with a bristle head receiving rccess. abristle head adapted to be received within the recess and tosubstantially fill it, the forward wall of the recess and the forwardend of the bristle head having inclined parts arranged to hold theforward end of the bristle head in the recess, and the rear end of thehead having a transverse notch, and means for engaging the notch to holdthe rear end of the bristle head in the recess consisting of a blocknon-circular in cross-section and having a transverse wedge-shapedfin-ward end adapted to enter the notch and thereby press the rear endof the head toward the bottom of the recess, a rod on which the block ismounted longitudinally received within the hollow handle and having aknob at the extremity thereof by which the rod may be manipulated tomove the block into and out of engagement with the notch, means forpreventing the rod from rotating, and means received within the handleand bent therewith for exerting friction on the rod to prevent theaccidental displacement thereof but permitting it to be manipulatedmanually, said means constituting a stop limiting the outward movementof the rod.

6. A brush comprising, a hollow handle having a bent portion andprovided on its forward end with a bristle head receiving recess, abristle head adapted to be received within and snugly fit the recess inthe handle, the forward end of the head and the forward wall of therecess having cooperating parts arranged to hold the forward end of thehead in the recess and the rear end of the head being provided with atransverse V-sliaped slot parallel with the top and bottom surfaces ofthe head, a tube received within the handle and extending throughout thelength thereof and bending in conformity therewith, the forward end ofthe tube carrying a perpendicular-ly arranged piece constituting therear end of the recess, said piece being provided with an aperture, ablock of non-circular cross-section adapted to pass through the apertureand having a wedgeshaped forward end adapted to enter the notch in thehead to exert a cam action thereon to hold the head in the recess, a rodon which the block is mounted slidingly and frictionally held in thetube and bending in conformity therewith and extending at its rear endbeyond the tube to form a button by which the rod may be manipulated,means on the tube for engaging the block to prevent the rod fromrotating, said frictional engagement between the tube and the rodpreventing the rod from accidental displacement but permitting manualmanipulation thereof.

EINAR K. GADE.

